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Reviews: Roland Goity of OnlineRock.com Allen "Robot" Van Wert can play guitar, and on his debut he plays it with abandon. His chops are worthy, and the multiple tones and lead variations he plays are reminiscent of axemen like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson. The 18 tracks here represent a broad range of styles and moods. There are techno and electronica elements on more than a few of the songs, giving the album a sci-fi, futuristic sense about it. This album is highly recommended for devotees of progressive rock guitar. One never knows; this guy might be a third of G3 someday. Favorite Track: Track 13, "Shouting into Waves" _________________________ - MAGE (April 7th, 2005) of RockReviews.info Genre: [Guitar-oriented Instrumental Rock/New Age/Electronic] Overall Rating: 8.0 Music: 8.5 Production: 7.5 The first thing that crossed my mind when I received Allen "Robot" Van Wert's debut solo album 'Robot' was that here's a guy who's definitely into Buckethead. That really drew my attention, since I'm into freaky guitar instrumentals in the vein of Buckethead, Mattias 'IA' Eklundh and the like. I assume Van Wert has also listened to the big names of instrumental rock (namely Joe Satriani and Steve Vai among others), since there are some similarity in his guitar licks to the aforementioned artists. The material on 'Robot' is quite diverse guitar-oriented instrumental music. At times there's over-the-top experimentality but from time to time Van Wert refrains from shredding and concentrates on melodic, laid-back guitar playing instead. Basically with 'Robot' Allen Van Wert proves that he has both sense of melody and some chops, but at times he slightly overdoes the guitar shredding part. Nonetheless, the album as a whole is rather intriguing recording to listen due to its variety (let alone its experimental edge). In addition, there are some really cool parts here and there making the album somewhat inspiring record to listen from guitarist's point of view. Allen Van Wert's 'Robot' is an album that favourably surprised me... I didn't know what to expect although I had my presumptions about it. There are a lot of great songs on 'Robot', and in case you listen to guitar-oriented instrumental music you should definitely give this album a try. If I was to name some highlights on this album, I'd stress 'Magnets', 'Boundless', 'The Rift', 'Turbo and Ozone', 'Rain on the Window', 'The Others' and 'Sweet Dreams'. __________________________ Bio: An eclectic, soulfull, and technically outstanding guitarist and musician. Creative rhythmic textures and memorable melodies are the core of "ROBOTS" music. With an arsenal of chops both physically and mentally, there is no limit to his musical expression. Lush harmonic constructs driven by pure emotion are passionatly narrated by flowing melody in the softer music... while the most extreme applications of "shred" guitar are heard in the heavier musical ventures. ROBOT has been credited as having a very futuristic sounding experimental style, exploring and breaking the limits of guitar based music He is well known for being capable of sounding like a video game gone mad and developing a new guitar playing technique people began calling "robot taps" _______________________ Current Work: Played guitar on an upcomming video game soundtrack from the same composer who did music for the Hitman and Splinter cell games.. and many more. Due out late 2005/early 2006 on all major platforms and consoles. Radio airplay over in Melbourne Australia FM 106.7 www.fretnet.com to request. Check out the artist's website: http://www.AllenVanWert.net Track List: 1. Intro 2. Magnets 3. Polarity 4. Tobor 5. Boundless 6. Lethal 7. Robot funk 8. Speechless 9. The Rift 10. Breath of the alien 11. Turbo and ozone 12. Rain on the window 13. Shouting into waves 14. Child learning to ride a bike 15. The others 16. Truth 17. Sweet dreams 18. Here come the chills Other Genres:
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